CRT vs. FLAT PANEL

Question

Hey post here. and truly what is better for gaming? CrT or Flat Panel     I had 23' In CRT now  I have 21' Flat which arrives FRI :)

Joe Average · Answer

You need to know the response time for the LCD (flat panel). If it's over 16 ms its gaming performance could be suspect. It would also depend on the gaming software you employ. 3D games that have simple texturing the 25 ms response time may suffice, but If you employ first person shooter software that has complicated 3D polygons 25 ms is not fast enough. Needless to say your video card factors in their big time. If you don't have a FAST 3D AGP 4X video card the fastest monitor in the world won't help you. Likewise if you have a fast 3D AGP 4X video card, but a slow monitor you will not utilize the video cards speed. For example: I have a ATI Radeon 9700 PRO displaying on a DELL 2001FP. This combo employs my racing simulators beautifully at 1600 x 1200 x 32. My brother on the other hand does not have this high level of hardware and the very same racing sims stink on his system. Finally, in addition to all the above you also need a FAST micro processor with at least 512 MB memory.  It's truly a combo deal and not just the monitor. One, or the other, or 2 out of three will not get it. I hope this helps!

Ratford · Answer

Yeah, make sure the response time is 16ms or lower. Also, a large monitor is a mixed blessing as you have to run it at a higher resolution to get the best quality, possibly sacrificing performance. A 1600 x 1200 native resolution monitor like the 21" means you'll likely have to upgrade your video card more frequently and possibly other components like CPU and/or memory. The advantage of a 19" 1280 x 1024 LCD is that it's not all that much smaller than a 21" and you wouldn't have to upgrade your video card as often, and you'll get a longer lifetime from your computer. Just cause you can play this year's games at 1600 x 1200 doesn't mean you'll be able to play next year's at that resolution.

Two other things: color and contrast. Make sure your monitor displays true 32-bit color. Until most recently LCDs typically displayed less than that, 24-bits for example. Lastly pay attention to the contrast ratio. You want the highest possible. LCDs still lag behind CRTs as far as contrast goes, which really shows in dark games. Read reviews about how the monitors do displaying black. Today's LCDs still tend to have a problem with pure black.

My opinion is that CRTs are still the absolute best for gaming, but LCDs have been catching up steadily just this year. Although I use my PC primarily for gaming, my new LCD monitor has so many benefits and is so close to a CRT in quality that I'd never go back.

Dysseron · Answer

Do you think that the 20ms response time of the 1905fp will 'cut it' for first-person-shooter games?  Like you said, the 1280 x 1024 is where I want to be at with a LCD, as I don't want 1600 x 1200, but I am concerned about the 'ghosting' effects (if any) with the 1905fp.    Thanks.

Larry Parker · Answer

Dysseron   Don't get the 1905. In case you didn't know Dell has a new 19' LCD monitor, the E193FP. Not only does it have 16ms response time, but it is $100 cheaper!! The negative is that the E193FP does not have a DVI plug.

Dysseron · Answer

Thanks for the info.  I did not know that Dell had another 19' LCD monitor (I only knew about the 1901 and the 1905).   Well, that is lame.  Why would Dell come out with a new 19' monitor, give it a reasonably fast 16ms response time, and then not put a DVI connector on it?  Am I missing something here?  Is the standard VGA just as good?  I don't have any experience with LCD monitors (except on laptops), but I was under the impression that the DVI connection was better than the standard.

Larry Parker · Answer

'Well, that is lame.  Why would Dell come out with a new 19' monitor, give it a reasonably fast 16ms response time, and then not put a DVI connector on it?  Am I missing something here? Good question. Maybe because some Dell LCD monitors have been having a intermittent 'blacking out' problem when using the DVI plug, like my 1800fp was, until I replaced my DVI cable with my analog cable.   'Is the standard VGA just as good?  I don't have any experience with LCD monitors (except on laptops), but I was under the impression that the DVI connection was better than the standard.'   Now that I am using the anaolg cable, the video quality on my monitor seems the same as when I was using DVI.   Although I only have one game to base that on, an older 'Strike Fighters: Project 1' game.   I'd say go with response time over DVI.

Monitors

CRT vs. FLAT PANEL

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